Variable release seat belt buckle

摘要

A molded plastic tubular sleeve slips over the housing of a seat belt buckle and includes an integrally molded flap which registers with and overlies the pushbutton of the buckle. The pushbutton flap is plastically yieldable relative to the tubular sleeve to thereby depress the buckle pushbutton underlying the flap. By controlling the material and dimensions of the tubular sleeve, the pushbutton flap can be designed to require a level of release force which is predeterminedly larger than the force normally needed to unbuckle the buckle. Furthermore, the tubular sleeve is shaped to be capable of sliding removal from the buckle so that the seat belt buckle may be conveniently restored to normal force unbuckling as desired.